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Guessing Game on Blagojevich’s Future

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Guessing Game on Blagojevich’s Future

December 14, 2008 12:24 pmDecember 14, 2008 12:24 pm

Updated | 5:30 p.m. Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich has no plans to resign tomorrow, a spokesman said, contradicting speculation by the state’s attorney general that the governor might step down in response to federal corruption charges.

“Gov. Blagojevich is NOT resigning tomorrow. He plans on signing legislation and working on the budget,” wrote Lucio Guerrero, a spokesman for the governor, in an e-mail.

Updated | 12:24 p.m. Are Rod R. Blagojevich’s days as Governor of Illinois numbered? The state’s attorney general seems to think so.

“We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement that he will step aside,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But then she said, later in the same interview, that she had “no idea” what he was about to do.

Ms. Madigan said Mr. Blagojevich, who has been accused of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder, has two options if he chooses to leave his seat. He can either resign or temporarily remove himself from office, an option provided in the Illinois state constitution. If he temporarily steps aside, he might be able to retain his salary, she said.

It was unclear if the attorney general was citing independent information or news reports about the possible resignation. Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” another Sunday morning show, she said she had “heard rumors in the media that he’s thinking of possibly doing something, or at least announcing something, tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the field of candidates wanting to take Mr. Obama’s Senate seat seems to be growing bigger by the day. Roland W. Burris, a former attorney general of Illinois who ran for the Senate in 1984, has joined at least seven other candidates in expressing interest for the job.

Mr. Burris, who now runs a political consulting firm and works as a lawyer, has a long history in Illinois state government. In 1983, he was elected to the office of comptroller, becoming the first African-American to be elected to an Illinois statewide office. He was the Illinois attorney general from 1991-1995.

His campaigns since then, however, have not been successful. In 1995, he was defeated in the Chicago mayoral race by incumbent Richard M. Daley. He thrice sought the Democratic nomination for governor, losing out most recently in 2002 to the disgraced current governor, Mr. Blagojevich.

Mr. Burris, 71, joins a crowded field of Senate hopefuls, including L. Tammy Duckworth, director of the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs, and Jesse Jackson, Jr., who surfaced in the federal investigation into Mr. Blagojevich as “Candidate 5″. Mr. Jackson, who is not a target of the investigation, has denied that he or anyone on his behalf acted illegally.

Mr. Burris said at a news conference Saturday that he only wants to serve the remaining two years of Obama’s term, and would not plan to run for re-election.

He also said he was “appalled” by the evidence that has been presented against Mr. Blagojevich, and that he supported Ms. Madigan in calling for the Illinois Supreme Court to remove the governor from office.

An earlier version of this post listed Valerie Jarrett among those in the running for the Illinois Senate seat. Ms. Jarrett has said that she is no longer interested.

Obama should choose a person for the Senate seat that will be able to take on his former keading role. He needs someone who can “take charge” of the Senate and become a great leader, just as he did. //www.electiongazette.com

Tucker B. – the choice is not Obama’s to make.
Oh, and Tucker, Obama was NOT a leader in the Senate – Illinois or US.

Blagojovich has been a headache since he managed to use his considerable war chest and smear his opposition in reassuring his re-election as Gov. The State govt has been at a standstill since he gained office.

I remind you that it was that phone call from Obama to Emil Jones, the Senate Democratic leader, formerly Obama’s politcal mentor, more recently the rare advocate for Blagojovich’s legislative stances (and noted as one of the people in the list of 6 replacement candidates) that convinced him (Jones) to change his stance on Blagoovich’s veto of the ethics bill. That change resulted in unanimous Senate repudiation of that veto which made Bagojovich push his self-agrandizement agenda.

In addition, it was a family falling out that started the spotlight on Blagovich’s actions. His father-in-law Richard Mell (Dick Mell) actually filed suit against him, but later withdrew it.

I still think Candidate #6 was Jim Oberweis, a Repulican who has pretty much funded his own many, many unsuccessful campaigns (US Senate, Governor, and US Representative (Denny Hastert’s seat.)) If Blagovich hadnt thought of the bidding war, I’m certain Oberweis might have suggested what he could do for Blagovich.

PS. Lisa Madigan is developing a name for herself even before this. She is the daughter of Michael Madigan, who happens to be the Democratic Leader of the State House, the Speaker, who has almost never gotten along with Blagojovch.

I’m happy to see Burris in consideration. I voted for him in the 2002 primary over Blago. If only more had done the same!

I hope Blago will have the smarts to step aside tomorrow. But “Blago” and “smarts” are not words generally used together. It’s essentially Blago versus the state of Illinois now, his career is absolutely over, and it’s time for him to accept it and go.

Of course, the GOP are going to do their damnedest with their ongoing whisper campaigns, and you can’t blame them for doing what their partisan politics demands they do, even though they failed so miserably to distract the voters in November. Given that some of Blago’s most memorably recorded words were his foul-mouthed outbursts at Obama’s refusal to pay-to-play, well, good luck with that, guys.

The Attorney General, with the help of her father, has her own personal reasons to get rid of Blago. She’s also part of the “family” of the Chicago corruption machinery. Read the Chicago papers they seem to be far more open to talk about what’s really going on in Chicago.
The North East media seemed to have avoided to inform us about where exactly Obama came from. I guess it didn’t fit their agenda, like when they didn’t want to ask the hard questions before invading Irak, and their reporters actually helped the Bush administration made its case. Unfortunately, all this information should have come up before the Democratic primaries. This smells worse by the day.

It would seem strange indeed for Obama NOT to talk to the governor about his recommendation on who would be the best person to fill the senate position. Of course it would be up to the governor to make the selection. Any concerned citizen has a right to suggest who would be best, and as the citizen most concerned, that should definitely include Obama. No pressure, of course – just a recommendation, take it or leave it.

2. Obama distances himself from Blagojevich, saying he will not take part in the search for Senator.

3. Blagojevich suddenly goes to jail.

Let me spell this out for you conspiracy theorists:
Obama and Rahm Emmanuel knew that Blagojevich was a crook. When he won the presidency, they saw a chance to prove it. In case you didn’t know, it takes a pretty strong call to get an FBI investigation into a politician; you can’t just call up the FBI and set them loose. Rahm Emmanuel stays in contact with Blagojevich, because it’s foolish to not remain in contact, even if you know the person is a fool. After being nigh blackmailed by him, they decided to blow the whistle. Emmanuel and Obama report him, the FBI looks into it, bam he’s a crook.
Emmanuel and/or Obama (who may in fact legitimately have almost nothing to do with it. It’s laughable to think that he didn’t know anything, but he certainly could have intentionally distanced himself, as that seems to be the sensible thing to do) cannot, I repeat, CANNOT talk to the press, for the sake of the confidentiality of the ongoing FBI investigation. They would probably LOVE to tell you how right they were about this, but until the case is declassified they won’t be able to do so.

Everyone loves jumping on the Chicago corruption bandwagon; why not look at it from the other perspective? Aside from Obama, Emmanuel, and the potential appointees who had to have been in the loop at some point, who COULD have blown the horn?

No one else could have. This is no coincidence; Obama is cleaning house.

I lived in Chicago for many years, and all these characters are tied up together. Though Lisa Madigan says all the right things, she is just as entrenched in dirty politics as any of them, via her father Michael Madigan. Emil Jones, Burris, I don’t care if all of them are deep down good guys, the fact is they have the taint of being a part of the machine, and for decades, and should be de facto disqualified for the senate post just by virtue of that fact. Anyone who comes from that system will always leave doubts among a large swath of the elctorate.

This really only leaves Tammy Duckworth, who indeed is a part of the Blago administration, but is a newcomer to IL politics and rather untainted. She also happens to be bright and would be a great advocate for veterans, as she is an Iraq veteran who has her legs blown off when her helicopter got shot down.

Why does this article continue to mention Valerie Jarret as a contender? Did she not remove herself from consideration? Hasn’t she already accepted a senior staff position with Barack?

Blago should not voluntarily step down. He should be forced to resign, and he should be in jail. There was no justification to let him out on bail.

Obama is being so silent about the matter. The silence from Obama is so loud that it is deafening. The stench is growing stronger by the day.

Tucker B. (#2) It is my opinion that Obama is the last person who should name is successor. As far as I am concerned, Obama is already very tainted by this scandal.

A thorough investigation is needed. It would have to be the Republicans. The Democrats will do nothing, just as the Republicans do nothing when it is one of their own involved in scandal. We need to get to the root of the Blago scandal. I hope the Republicans rip right into it. I couldn’t care less if takes the next four years. Corruption is corruption. It does not matter which party is involved, but as much corruption as possible must be exposed. I don’t care who is taken down in the process.

Tammy Duckworth for the Senate seat. I say that simply because she doesn’t have the long term political ties everyone else has. I’d like to think every politician in my state isn’t corrupt but right now, who knows? Her relative lack of experience is a positive at this time.

Those of you who believe Lisa Madigan is just a cog in the wheel of the Chicago Machine haven’t read about how she’s challenged her father’s political stances. Sure, this situation could benefit her politically, but I think she’s one of the few statewide pols who’s actually working as an advocate for the people of Illinois.

The most crooked politician in Illinois isn’t Blago, btw. It’s Chicago’s own Mayor Daley. He’s just too smart to get caught.

From an observer who doesn’t know Chicago politics I thought Lisa Madigan was leaping at the chance to make herself look good.
It seems that legislative branch should be handling any disipline, impeachment, etc. of the governor and not the courts.
He hasn’t been convicted of anything yet.
Madigan’s involvement seemed premature.

The point is what does this tell us about the upcoming Obama administration? One thing I’ve learned is that politicians like Gov. Blagojevich do see jobs for their wives as benefits for themselves. I think we should be encouraging the free press to investigate Michele Obama’s current and future jobs for signs of connections to political favors done by Barack Obama.

John D. and the other ‘get Obama at any price’ sore losers. Good luck. Get a life. You have bigger problems, like all those ‘heroes of free enterprise’ who just stole your 401 K and investment portfolios. Time to put away your hatred of over achieving, over educated and well meaning children of multi-ethnic/race marriage, and focus on your financial survival. We will need more than a president who is adept at dodging the random tossed shoe over the coming 4 years.

John D. and the other ‘get Obama at any price’ sore losers. Good luck. Get a life. You have bigger problems, like all those ‘heroes of free enterprise’ who just stole your 401 K and investment portfolios. Time to put away your hatred of over achieving, over educated and well meaning children of multi-ethnic/race marriage, and focus on your financial survival. We will need more than a president who is adept at dodging the random tossed shoe over the coming 4 years.

— jwp-nyc (#19)

Not everyone has done poorly during the Bush years. There were plenty of strategies to use to invest and make money. I am sorry to see Bush go. I am a Democrat who voted for Bush in 2004. He has been the greatest tax cutter ever. It is my opinion that Bush’s policies have given investors tremendous oppportunites. On the other hand, Obama’s big big social programs will just stifle investment.

You are just spewing sour grapes because not everyone is enthralled with Obama. Grow up. Obama is going to get plenty of criticism during the next four years. Every other president in modern history has been castigated by people who do not like the policies that were being implemented by administrations they opposed. Obama is no exception. He wanted to be president, and as such, he will not be coddled. You should notice that not every voter voted for Obama. Therefore, not everyone agreed with him, including myself, and I am a Democrat.

It seems you fear any investigation into Blago’s activities. This matter is not small potatoes. Corruption in government is a huge problem, and so what Blago and anyone else involved have done should become full public knowledge.

Lot of you guys going cookoo on these things must remember that for past 8 years, we have witnessed abuse of executive power and priviledge, murderous wars, constitutional violations by defender of the constitution.

And the very Bush economic plan you supported — which encouraged wild speculative investment — had a hand in the crisis that is causing pain for the millions of Americans who do not have the same opportunities to use their money in the market.

After all, this is the SECOND period of horrendous job loss under Bush, the first coming in the lead up before the 2004 election.

So frankly, I could care less what so-called Democrats like you think, because your self-centered look at the economy is what got us into this mess in the first place.

And as far as the investigation, it’s ongoing. But there has been no evidence that Obama had anything to do with Blago’s actions.